u/godisinthischilli

I'm feeling increasingly demotivated at work because there is basically no clear path for advancement, and I think a big part of the problem is a management bottleneck.

I work at a small nonprofit, so there aren't a ton of positions to begin with. My direct manager has been here for a long time and is in her 60s. She's told me she's not ready to retire because she can't afford to. Above her is a director who has also been with the organization for around 15 years. So the same few people have occupied the management positions for a very long time.

I'm not saying anyone is obligated to retire just because they've been somewhere a long time or because they're getting older. Obviously people should be able to keep working as long as they want and are able to. But from the perspective of someone below them, it creates this weird career bottleneck.

There isn't really an obvious next step for me. I can take on more responsibilities, develop new programs, teach new classes, etc., but there doesn't seem to be a corresponding position for me to move into. I'm basically supposed to become increasingly competent at my current job while waiting for someone above me to either leave, retire, or have their position otherwise become available.

And honestly, that's demotivating.

I don't want my career progression to depend on hoping that my manager retires. I also don't want to sit around secretly rooting for someone to leave or have health problems just so I can move up. That's not a healthy career strategy.

The frustrating part is that I actually want to grow professionally. I'm not necessarily looking to become some high-powered executive—I just want to feel like there's a trajectory. If I'm doing more sophisticated work and taking on more responsibility, I'd like there to be some way to advance rather than just accumulating more duties at the same level.

Has anyone else worked somewhere where management was basically a permanent fixture and it created a promotion bottleneck? How did you deal with it? Did you eventually create your own path elsewhere, or did you stay and wait for something to open up?

I didn’t know who Avery Anna was until the ACM awards and then became an instant fan- she has this really cool girl vibe going and is clearly a rocker my knit issue with her is that she doesn’t sound as country as I’d like.

I’ve been thinking about this lately because I genuinely think Emily Ann Roberts has the voice. She can really sing, and there’s something distinctive about her sound—especially the mountain/Appalachian and bluegrass influence. She also had the backing of The Voice TV Show and mentor Blake Shelton (he definitely promoted her via tours, etc).

But at the same time, I wonder if she gets lost in the sea of blonde female country singers coming out of Nashville. There are so many talented women competing for attention that being a great vocalist unfortunately isn’t always enough anymore.

What I find interesting is that I actually think her more traditional, mountainy sound could be what sets her apart. She doesn’t feel like she’s trying to be another pop-country Nashville girl. She has a very specific country/bluegrass identity.

And honestly, I think her personality is another thing working in her favor. She comes across as really friendly, charismatic, and likable, which is something that can make a huge difference in building a fanbase. Her growing social media presence through Sasser House also seems like it’s giving people more of a chance to see her personality outside of just performing.

So she has the voice, a distinctive sound, a personable/charismatic presence, and now seems to be building more of an online following. That’s why I’m surprised she hasn’t broken through more by now.

What do you guys think? Is it just a matter of timing, label support, and exposure, or is there something about her that isn’t quite connecting with a larger audience?

The only games I actually want to come out are:

Witchbrook

Haunted Chocolatier

Wylde Society

All games where we really don't have a release date in mind. LOL.

It makes sense that union jobs go to positions that could be more physically demanding because those positions require more protection but I feel like most people would prefer working guest facing jobs and I'm not sure how the union benefits compare to non union. It seems like this would incentivize people to not move up the ladder to guest facing roles because of loss of non union benefits.

I work for a nonprofit where part of my job is recruiting people for our programs, and I’ve realized that I really love the teaching part of my job but absolutely hate the recruiting cycle that comes before it.

Once I actually have students in the classroom, I’m happy. I love teaching, interacting with people, helping them learn, and seeing them make progress. That part of the job feels meaningful to me.

But then the class ends and suddenly it’s time to start all over again:

• How many students do we have?
• Do we have enough people registered?
• Who needs to be called?
• Who hasn’t responded to the email?
• Can you follow up with this person?
• Can you reach out to that organization?
• Can you find more referrals?
• Can you fill the next class?
• And then, of course, there’s all the paperwork and documentation that comes with getting people enrolled.

I find myself getting really tired of the constant uncertainty of “Are we going to have enough people?” It’s not that I dislike talking to people or communicating with potential students. It’s the feeling that recruitment is never actually finished. As soon as you get one group of students through the door, you immediately have to start worrying about the next group. I feel like a salesperson or telemarketer at times.

In public school I never had to worry about having enough students you could always count on at least 10 being in the room but now we need at least to run a class. I hate feeling like my job depends on the numbers.

I think I’m realizing that I’m much more of a teacher than a recruiter.

I like having a group of people who have already decided they want to be there and focusing my energy on making the program useful and engaging for them. I don’t particularly enjoy constantly having to sell the program, chase people down, make phone calls, send follow-up emails, and worry about enrollment numbers.

Does anyone else deal with recruiting hell at their nonprofit?

Context: we are struggling with numbers because we aren't purely open to the public but to a select applicant pool so it feels like we are constantly banging our heads against the wall and trying to stay afloat. Idk why we can't just operate as a benefit service to a select pool and instead have enrollment and quota goals.

My boyfriend has this habit of always wanting to try whatever I order and then waiting to see if I’ll have leftovers. I genuinely don’t mind sharing occasionally. If I’m eating something really good, I’ll offer him a bite.

What bothers me is that it feels like he’s always waiting. Like if we go out to eat, I can almost feel him hoping I won’t finish my plate so he can eat the rest. One time I intentionally finished the entire meal because I realized I was starting to feel like my food was part of his meal plan.

The weird part is that I don’t think it’s even about being hungry. It seems more psychological—he’s more interested in what I have than what he ordered himself. If he thinks he’ll still be hungry, I feel like the solution is to order a bigger entrée or get a side, not assume there might be leftovers on my plate.

I don’t mind sharing every now and then but don’t enjoy the feeling that he’s waiting on my food.

I had a weird experience today. I was sitting in the sun reading on the coach-- the room was a bit hot and stuffy when suddenly I got a headache. Afterwards, I was in the bathroom for about an hour. I didn't have cramps but I was pooping a lot. To keep myself hydrated I drank some seltzer and then felt this nausea for the rest of the day like I had trapped air in my stomach and needed to burp. I am so confused how all of a sudden I got GERD like symptoms. I don't ever feel heartburn but it feels more like acid reflux and idk how to prevent it. I don't get it every day but it's why I keep TUMS by my side-- it always starts with gas of some sort. I'm not sure if this is it exactly or how you can self diagnose it but I think it's acid reflux.

The clause reads “no excessively socializing with coworkers” I have worked many places and have never seen a handbook try to control relationships with coworkers outside of harassment and dating — what else does this mean? Can someone explain? Plenty of people at my work are friends outside of work.

This is mostly just a vent because maybe I’m overreacting, but it still annoys me.

My manager insists that annual performance reviews happen on your exact work anniversary every year. Not the same week. Not “around that time.” Literally the exact date.

Well, one year my approved vacation happened to fall on my work anniversary. During my performance review, she made a comment along the lines of, “The annual should always be on the exact anniversary date, but now we can’t because you’re on vacation.”
I just sat there thinking…what?

I’m using vacation time that I’m entitled to. I’m not calling out last minute. I’m not skipping the review. Just…move it to the day before or after? It’s still my annual review.

What bothered me wasn’t that the review had to be rescheduled. It was that the comment made me feel like I’d done something wrong by taking approved PTO.

This isn’t really about one comment. It’s part of a bigger pattern where it feels like everything has to follow the rules exactly, even when there’s an obvious, harmless workaround. I feel like normal logistical things become lectures instead of conversations.
Am I crazy for thinking employees shouldn’t be made to feel guilty for using vacation time they’ve earned? If the only issue is that my work anniversary falls during PTO, I don’t see why moving the review by a few days is a big deal.

Before anyone jumps on me: I know none of this is her fault. I know her health issues are legitimate, and I wouldn't wish them on anyone. This is more about my own frustration than anything she's doing wrong.

I work from home several days a week, and one of the things I genuinely look forward to is having the apartment to myself while my roommate is at work. I really value alone time.

The problem is... she's home so much more frequently than I expected.

She actually moved in while on medical leave, so she was home for about three months. Then she was supposed to go back to work before the holidays but got the flu, so she ended up being home through the holidays too.

She also gets migraines that seem pretty debilitating, and she probably calls out 2-3 times a month because of them. Again, I know migraines are real and awful. More recently, she had the entire Fourth of July week off, then called out the Thursday and Friday before because she threw out her back. She went back to work for four days and today she's home again with a migraine. She said she "threw out her back" and then went camping like two days later BTW.

At this point I honestly don't know how she hasn't gotten fired, which probably says more about how different my own work experience has been than anything else. Even though she always has medical reasons I am wondering how work hasn't fired her.

I feel guilty even being annoyed because she's not abusing the system or anything. As far as I know, everything is medically necessary. I'm not mad at her. I'm just disappointed every time I think, "Finally, I'll have a quiet day to myself," and then I hear her in the apartment all day.

Already know I am being unreasonable here just venting because I wasn't expecting her to call out today and then yup she does. Would this annoy anyone else even if the issues are legitimate? Does your roommate somehow also call out of work frequently and hasn’t been fired?

I've been playing Disney Dreamlight Valley for over six months now, and honestly I feel like I've barely scratched the surface.

When I look at my Collections page, it says I've completed less than 10% of everything, which is kind of wild considering how long I've been playing. 😅

I have so many friendship quests, story quests, realms to unlock, and items to collect that I pretty much spend all my time just trying to work through quests. Because of that, I rarely decorate my valley, don't spend much time on Star Paths or DreamSnaps, and I don't play Scramblecoin every chance I get because it just feels like another thing to keep up with.

Sometimes I see screenshots of these beautifully decorated valleys and people talking about finishing Star Paths in a week, and I'm over here thinking, "I'm just trying to finish my quest log."

Don't get me wrong—I love that there's so much content and I'm definitely getting my money's worth. But it almost feels like the game has reached the point where there's too much to do, especially with new updates adding even more characters and quests before I've caught up on the old ones.

Does anyone else play this way? Do you mostly focus on quests until you're caught up, or do you balance decorating, DreamSnaps, Star Paths, Scramblecoin, and everything else? I'm curious if I'm in the minority or if other people also feel constantly behind. I have all the DLC packs by the way.

In my opinion like when she did the 7th course dinner Lara wasn't nice to her at all because the guests recognized her talent and praised her. She also has never gotten complaints about her food from what I can tell. But I feel like the stews always get a majority of the praise or is it just me? I'm not saying she can't be toxic in some ways but seems she's a genuinely good cook.

I am on Season 3 so sorry if this outdated but I am at the part where Lara is trying to get Alesia to clean up the crew mess. I am totally on Tzarina's side on this one. Alesia gets to have a break and Lara needs to stick to her own department. Lara only wants Alesia to do it cuz she saw Alesia having some down time and assumes she is free to clean up the mess and always be helping. She could have been "goofing" off during her break. I noticed Lara HOPS on anyone who seems to be relaxed or enjoying themselves-- I've had bosses like that. The "if you can lean you can clean," motto for retail. Lara needs to stick to her lane and mind her own department. She's the Chief Stewardess of HOUSEKEEPING not every department and she definitely crosses the line.

I grew up in a family where if we were taking a road trip, we were leaving at 5 or 6 a.m. I hated it as a kid, but as an adult I totally understand why. You avoid traffic, avoid driving in the hottest part of the day, and you maximize the time you actually get to spend at your destination.

My boyfriend's family is the complete opposite. They pretty much never leave before late morning or around lunchtime. There's always breakfast, people getting ready, one more thing to do, etc., and before you know it it's 11 a.m. or later. Well-- the issue is not really the breakfast it's that most of them don't wake up until 10am on weekends so breakfast is more of a brunch hour.

This past Fourth of July weekend really highlighted the difference. We ended up driving almost entirely during a heat wave and sat in some of the worst holiday traffic because we didn't get on the road until late. What should have felt like a relaxing three-day weekend honestly felt more like a day and a half because so much of it was spent sitting in the car.

On the way home, we also got back around midnight because my boyfriend underestimated how long one last stop would take. He wanted to leave around 3 p.m., but realistically we probably needed to leave closer to 1:30 or 2 to avoid getting home so late. His dad was running behind too, so everything just kept getting pushed back.

The thing that's frustrating is that when I'm with his family, I feel like I have zero influence over the schedule. I don't want to be the person constantly saying, "Can we leave earlier?" but internally I'm thinking, "We could avoid all of this if we just got on the road a few hours sooner."

I'm curious if other couples deal with this. Did you grow up with completely different ideas about what time a road trip should start? How did you handle it, especially when traveling with your partner's family?

I understand as an adult now not everyone wants to leave super early to drive but it does have some benefits.

Basically the title but in my experience chiropractors do help relieve pain you just have to go over a long term period. Some sources cite that chiropractor can help alleviate migraines as well. There was a guy I knew who is a medical doctor or in the field and he went on to rant about chiropractors and how he feels you should only go to a PT because he doesn't trust chiropractors-- it made me feel very uncomfortable because I personally had a positive experience and felt it was some kind of judgement call. I don't think they can alleviate all pain but it's probably how people view hollistic medication in a negative light.

There's definitely a salary range I can't seem to break out of as an ESL teacher but I feel like I lack the skills to pivot into a higher paying career and don't want to go back to school for a degree.

I want to be clear that this isn’t about my boyfriend’s sister being autistic. I understand that autism can make things like transitions, executive functioning, and time management more challenging.
The part I’m struggling with is how the family handles it.
For example, they’ll say, “We’re leaving at 10:00,” but if she isn’t ready, everyone just waits. The departure time ends up being whenever she’s ready rather than the time that was originally planned.
This happens pretty consistently, so outings often start later than expected. My boyfriend and I have talked about it, and while we understand why she may have difficulty being ready on time, I’ve started wondering whether always waiting is the best approach.
From my perspective, it can be frustrating because it means everyone else’s plans get delayed too. And she seemingly has no sense of awareness/remorse about this. And my boyfriend agrees with me it’s an issue but his family doesn’t know how to handle it. At the same time, I also don’t know what reasonable expectations should look like in a situation like this, and I recognize there may be things I don’t understand about autism.

I’m curious how experienced managers approach this.
My manager is very conscientious and always wants to make sure things are done correctly, which I appreciate. However, I’ve noticed that even relatively small corrections often turn into 15–20 minute conversations. Instead of a quick, direct “Next time, please do X instead of Y,” the feedback tends to become a long explanation about why it happened, why it matters, and how to avoid it in the future.

Over time, I’ve started feeling less like a trusted professional and more like I’m being parented or lectured. The actual feedback is usually reasonable—it’s the delivery that makes it feel discouraging. I don’t need a long discussion for every minor mistake, and after a while it starts to feel like my judgment isn’t trusted.

For those of you who manage people, how do you decide when something warrants a longer coaching conversation versus a brief correction? Have you found ways to deliver feedback that is clear and effective while still treating employees like capable adults?

I’m especially interested in hearing from managers who’ve had to adjust their feedback style after receiving input from employees. What changed your approach?

I've been thinking about this lately, and I'm wondering if others have noticed the same thing.

At my workplace, it seems like managers and directors have a level of flexibility that simply doesn't exist for employees with in-person responsibilities. If they want an extra remote day, need to work from home because they're feeling under the weather, or just want more flexibility, it's often something they can ask for because of their role or tenure.

Meanwhile, I don't feel like I have that option.

My job has legitimate in-person responsibilities, and I'm aware that I can't simply opt out of them. If I need to be on-site, I need to be on-site. That's part of the position, and I understand that.

What frustrates me is that hybrid work has evolved into a workplace benefit that isn't just based on job duties—it's also influenced by seniority and organizational level. The higher up someone is, the more autonomy they seem to have over where they work. For those of us with operational or customer-facing responsibilities, that autonomy doesn't really exist.

It's especially noticeable when someone who can work remotely avoids using PTO because they can just work from home while sick, while employees who must be physically present often don't have an equivalent option.

I'm not saying everyone should be remote, and I recognize that some work genuinely has to be done in person. I just wish organizations acknowledged that flexibility has become a meaningful benefit, and that employees who can't access it are giving up something of real value.

Has anyone else's workplace found ways to balance this, or is this just the reality of hybrid work now?